High winds blowing through the Fort Saskatchewan area are keeping city staff busy clearing downed trees and repairing damaged property.

The city has received a large number of reports from residents who have spotted fallen tree branches and other damage on trails and sidewalks and in local parks. The large volume of calls has prompted the city to ask residents to call in only about damage that poses a public safety hazard.

"We're just asking that residents have patience and we will get to the non-hazardous as soon as we handle all the hazardous," said Jean Dabels, parks manager with the city. "That may be a tree down over a trail or a sidewalk, something that's going to impact safety of residents."

The full cleanup is expected to take about a week.

The city has received one report of a tree landing on a fence on public property, but so far no major damage has been reported.

The past two days saw Fort Saskatchewan hit with wind gusts upwards of 90 km/h. A wind warning issued by Environment Canada was lifted on Tuesday (Jun.12) afternoon.

"Last year we responded to three major windstorms in May and June. So we're hopeful that we won't have as many this year," Dabels said.

The city asks that residents use Fort Report to notify staff about storm damage.

When Fort Saskatchewan and the Heartland want local news, weather, and sports online and on-demand, they turn to Fort Sask Online. As Fort Saskatchewan's website for local job listings, free classifieds, garage sales, family events, business directory and weather cancellations, Fort Sask Online makes it worth the visit!